The crew flies with the Black Sky unmanned-systems battalion of the National Guard's 3rd Operational Purpose Brigade Spartan. The commander, callsign Arti, said the crew's middle-strike drones can strike Russian military vehicles as close as 50 and as far as 150 kilometers behind the front line, mostly trucks and passenger cars, Army Inform reported.

The war now reaches deep into the Russian rear, where strike drones hit vehicles once safe from the front. Every Russian vehicle this crew burns is a blow to the invasion's logistics, leaving fewer supplies and fewer troops able to reach Russian positions. (edited) 

Arti said the drones' main advantages are their range, speed, and stealth, while navigator Schultz, another crew callsign, said they are particularly effective 50–60 kilometers from the line of contact.

How the crew works

The four-person crew includes a pilot, navigator, technician and sapper. Arti joined the military intending to fly drones and first served as a second pilot on another crew before moving to middle-strike aircraft.

Schultz was mobilized in September 2024 and spent nearly a year and a half flying Mavic drones for reconnaissance, dropping munitions and delivering supplies to Ukrainian troops. That experience helped him transition to middle-strike drones.

“I navigate the terrain and give the pilot the course to fly,” Schultz said. “I already know the areas where enemy vehicles may move and where they may stage near the treelines.”

Schultz said Russian forces have become increasingly reluctant to move vehicles close to the front line after repeated Ukrainian strikes.

"At 50 to 60 kilometers from the [frontline] they're quite effective. Right on the line we won't find anyone now — nobody drives there anymore, because our guys worked them over for so long. The occupiers are already afraid to drive closer. It knocks out all the enemy's logistics," he said.

Schultz said this can mean fewer supplies and personnel reaching Russian positions.

He recalled the first time he watched one of the crew’s strikes in real time. Reconnaissance operators tracked a vehicle carrying Russian personnel while the drone crew moved in to attack.

“We saw it ourselves—we saw how we hit it, how everything exploded and burned,” he said.

The crew began flying middle-strike drones only a few months ago.

“We’re a young crew. There’s still a lot ahead,” Schultz said.

Ukraine's first-person-view (FPV) drones are not being displaced by newer unmanned systems, a Ukrainian officer told Ukrinform. They remain a central tool for precision strikes, while Ukrainian forces claim a separate advantage in larger bomber drones.

Unmanned systems have become a defining weapon of Russia's war against Ukraine, and both sides race to out-innovate each other, a contest in which a cheap UAV can down a platform costing dozens of times more.

FPVs remain central

"Since FPVs appeared in service, they have become a leading means of precision engagement. This trend will continue," said Captain Anton Bobrovskyi, who commands a company training unmanned-systems specialists at the 199th Training Center of the Air Assault Forces.

Bobrovskyi conceded that Russia also uses drones effectively and that Ukraine learns from it, but said Ukraine keeps a lead in one category: bomber drones.

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Ukraine's bomber-drone advantage

Russian forces fear Ukrainian bomber drones, according to Bobrovskyi. He said Ukraine outmatches Russia many times over in such systems, and that Russian troops who encounter one often do not know what to do with it.

The distinction matters because bomber drones work differently from single-use FPVs. Rather than flying into a target and exploding, larger bomber drones carry and release munitions, then fly on. Euromaidan Press has documented the growing role of these systems, including reusable platforms capable of returning to base after dropping their payloads. Developers have also adapted them to fly through Russian electronic warfare, with upgraded Vampire drones built to resist jamming.

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Bobrovskyi said Ukraine's advantage does not mean Russia lacks comparable technology. Instead, he argued that Ukrainian forces and society initiated many of the current battlefield drone trends and have kept the initiative in using them.

Each new drone class draws a countermeasure, so the side that keeps iterating fastest holds the battlefield initiative. How long Ukraine's bomber-drone edge lasts will depend on its ability to keep protecting and upgrading those platforms.